Secure.
Secure: to make (something) safe by guarding or protecting it. Secure: to put (something) in a place or position so that it will not move. Secure: to make (something) certain.
Secure. The fifteenth artwork from the Law on the Wall series by Lawyers Arts Club.
The title Secure is taken from the Computer Misuse Act 1990. 1
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A SINGLE WORD
The word secure has a truly mind bending effect when is said or heard. When mentioned it makes us question as to whether we do feel secure or safe. With just six letters we are left wondering how we can improve our lives and find ourselves feeling secure on a day to day basis.
Mona Lisa by Liu Bolin: Art Hacker 2016
WHY SECURE?
With the technological world growing rapidly each year it is now almost impossible to not have an online presence of some kind. Socialites, business owners, shoppers, people looking for love, casual internet users, researchers, anyone and everyone benefits from the online world. However, with such growth comes risk. Without proper protection in this vast and crazy network, you could be the victim of hackers, stealing your personal information and potentially your bank details. It is now more crucial than ever to be secure online.
WHAT LAW IS ON THE WALL?
The word is taken from the Computer Misuse Act 1990 which gives clarity on a persons intentions to secure access to any program, data or information without authorised access.
Computer Misuse Act 1990. 1 Unauthorised access to computer material. (1)A person is guilty of an offence if—(a)he causes a computer to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer [F1, or to enable any such access to be secured] ; (b)the access he intends to secure [F2, or to enable to be secured,] is unauthorised; and (c)he knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function that that is the case.
The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.
THE PHONE HACKING SCANDAL
2011 saw the end of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid paper News Of The World after a long court case after evidence was discovered that journalists had been phone hacking. The process of phone hacking in this sense was gaining access to peoples personal voicemails. Journalists would target high profile personnel such as celebrities and politicians. By accessing their personal messages, the reporters were hoping to get a unique angel that would give them an edge over rival publications. Initially there were years of denial with anything to do with phone hacking by Murdoch and his cohorts. It came to light that Milly Dowler’s phone had been hacked after she had been abducted. Murdoch decided it was time to fess up and close the 163 year old News Of The World for good.
Anonymous
MINNEAPOLIS POLICE
After the the untimely and tragic murdering of George Floyd by a local Minneapolis Police Officer, protests broke out all around the world. These protests were for the injustice that black people have received from those in power for generations. The infamous hacktivists Anonymous sent in a video stating that they intend to seek revenge on the state police. The plan was to expose their crimes to the world by shutting down the police website and leaking their internal files. As well as this for 2 days the group intercepted police scanners in Chicago to play N.W.A’s ‘Fuck Tha Police’ and Tay Zonday’s ‘Chocolate Rain’.
INTERACTIVE ART THAT SPARKS DISCUSSION
This is an on going, ever evolving interactive artwork to keep people engaged with the law and the discussion that comes from it.
WHY IS THE PHRASE ‘SECURE’ SO IMPORTANT IN 2021 AN BEYOND?
To feel secure, is to feel safe and comfortable in your surroundings and in yourself when doing something. Whether that thing be starting a new job, trying out a risky strategy in sport or sitting at home watching Netflix. The need for people to feel secure helps eliminate stresses and anxieties we might have. When you feel secure, and truly safe and comfortable we allow the best side of ourselves to flourish.
DATA BREACHES
Whilst it might seem scary that your personal account will potentially get hacked, if you are a business owner the threat is that much more prominent. Between May 2019 to May 2020 around 88% of UK businesses reported a date breach. In the UK, 65,000 attempts to hack small to medium sized businesses are made everyday with 4,500 being successful. To give it some context, it costs enterprises in the UK and average of about $840,000 to recover from each breach. Not only does it cost money, after informing clients there has been a data breach around a third of businesses have reported a loss of custom.
PHISIHNG
The act of phishing is something that we have probably all come across. It is a tactic used by hackers to obtain data, credit card information and login details. Either by phone, email or text message a hacker will pose as a trusted figure such as a worker for the government. They will send a link, upon clicking that link the hacker already has access to your device. If you fill in the details required you have then lost control of that information. According to Symantec, one in every 3,722 emails in the UK is phishing. Around half of the attacks in the UK use phishing, so please be wary of who and what you click on.
Last News Of The World paper.
ONLINE SECURITY
To protect yourself from hackers you can acquire yourself some cyber security. In effect it is a downloadable program for your devices that prevents unauthorised access into your computer systems. Due to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 businesses can receive considerable fines due if a data breach is committed. To feel secure online it is crucial to have the best protection available.
WITHOUT CARE
The word secure dates back to 1530s where in Latin, Securus meant a person without fear and dreading no evil. It breaks down into “se” meaning “free from” and “cure” meaning “care”. The word as we know it today takes in elements of it’s verb meaning to hold something safely in place and to be free from worry.
If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.
ANONYMOUS
Anonymous is arguably the most the infamous group of hackers that have ever existed. Identifying as a group of hacktivists they are an international corporation that have done several attacks on different governments and huge companies. The group are known to wear the white Guy Fawkes mask, and is now seen as a symbol of the groups activity. Due to their power online the groups name strikes truthful with their presence. Despite being active for years now, their identity is till unknown. One example of Anonymous is in 2015 when they revealed the names and contact information of KKK members online. They have also attacked the Church of Scientology, Sony, the Korean Government, and the list goes on.
Untitled by Diana Lange for Hack the Art World
HACK THE ART WORLD
Google announced their DevArt initiative in coordination with the Barbican Centre in London. The idea was to encourage coders to use their skills creatively and produce artwork for a large exhibition. However, it gained a lot of controversy after the artists were not receiving a lot, if any commission for their months of work. One group know as Hack The Art World wrote an open letter to Google accusing them of exploiting artists. The letter also highlights that digital art has been around since the 1960s and that they shouldn’t try to monopolise the market. In 2014 the group held on online exhibition of animated artwork in protest to DevArt. Works include a google image search turning into a glitch and a selection of animated patterns.
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